Home Theater Geeks 549: CEDIA 2026 Part 1

In the 1980s, as the US space shuttle was just starting operations, the UK embarked on an ambitious project called HOTOL—short for Horizontal Take Off and Landing, a radical, air-breathing spaceplane design. Poilitical and funding shifts in the UK ultimately derailed the project, despite the promising technologies it pioneered. The idea was later restarted as Skylon, with key individuals and refined technologies at its core. This project, too, struggled, ultimately shuttering in 2024. Despite this, the promise of rapid, reusable spaceplanes that can launch and land at airports is still coveted by many cointries, and efforts continue. Join Rob Coppinger, author of the definitive book on the topic and editor of the UK's "Spaceflight" magazine, as he tells this fasincating story. Headlines: New Crater Discovered on the Moon Boeing Starliner Gains New Life with NASA Support Starship Flight 14 Gears Up for Launch Main Topic: British Spaceplanes – HOTOL and Skylon Rob Coppinger Shares Inspiration and Career Path Origins and Vision Behind HOTOL HOTOL vs. the Space Shuttle: Concepts and Challenges Funding Issues and UK Government Decisions Evolution from HOTOL to Skylon and Reaction Engines Technological Innovations: SABRE Engine and Reusability International Context: Other Spaceplane Projects Current Status and Future Prospects for UK Spaceplanes Lessons in Vision, Imagination, and Persisting with Big Ideas Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik Guest: Rob Coppinger Download or subscribe to This Week in Space at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsor: trustedtech.team/twit

Qwen, Muse Glimmer, Ollama, llama.cpp, quantization, mixture-of-experts, RAG, tokens per second. On Hands-On AI, those aren't buzzwords — Mikah Sargent will explain exactly what they mean, then put them to work on hardware you already own. No cloud, no account, no data, leaving your desk. Host: Mikah Sargent Download or subscribe to Hands-On AI at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-ai Want access to the ad-free audio and video and exclusive features? Become a member of Club TWiT today! https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.

Jennifer Pattison Tuohy joins the show this week! AI-generated "news" sites. Are 'health age' scores helpful, or harmful? Google Home now supports the Model Context Protocol. And Apple unveils a new photo verification technology for the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max. Mikah shares a story about Futurism's investigation into Brown Brothers Media reveals a network of AI-generated "news" sites - complete with fabricated writer personas and stolen bylines. Victoria Song of The Verge joins the show to explain why "health age" scores from wearables like Whoop, Oura, and now Apple Watch are wildly inconsistent proprietary metrics that can fuel unnecessary shame or false confidence about your health. Jennifer discusses Google Home's new MCP support and makes the case that what smart homes really need is a dedicated, on-device "smart home computer" rather than more cloud-dependent AI. And Mikah talks about Apple's Reference Image feature for the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, which aims to verify photo authenticity straight from the camera sensor, an approach the company says avoids the privacy and security pitfalls of industry standards like C2PA. Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy Guest: Victoria Song Download or subscribe to Tech News Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: trustedtech.team/twit outsystems.com/twit rayneo.com threatlocker.com/twit

Discover the overlooked advanced settings in Windows 11 that can transform how you manage apps, files, and even the command line. These features aren't just for developers—every power user should know about them. Host: Paul Thurrott Download or subscribe to Hands-On Windows at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-windows Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord. Sponsors: trustedtech.team/twit bitwarden.com/twit

Apple Watch's new Audio Intelligence tools promise instant transcriptions and meeting summaries without keeping your recordings. But is the S11 chip's privacy tech strong enough to calm nerves on both sides of the conversation? Apple Watch Audio Intelligence: Four Features, One Secure Chip Sound Recognition and Shazam: Always-On Environmental Listening Live Rewind: 15-Second Instant Replay With Privacy Safeguards Siri Recap: Automated Meeting Summaries, Not Full Transcripts Privacy, Secure Exclave processing, and Cloud Summarization Explained Usage Limits, Age Restrictions, and Launch Timeline for Features Transparency and Social Impacts of New Tools Host: Mikah Sargent Download or subscribe to Hands-On Apple at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-apple Want access to the ad-free audio and video and exclusive features? Become a member of Club TWiT today! https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord. Sponsor: trustedtech.team/twit

Apple finally enters the foldable fray with the iPhone Duo, packing unexpected features and a lower-than-expected price. Find out what's actually inside and if it's worth leaving your classic iPhone behind. iPhone 18 Pro/Pro Max colors, pricing, and 1st impressions Variable aperture camera tech benefits, marketing, and durability concerns Battery life and ultra-fast charging impress for Pro iPhones A20 Pro processor with advanced neural engine and vapor chamber cooling Dynamic Island hardware and software upgrades iPhone Duo: Apple's first folding phone, hardware, and price iPhone Duo durability, hinge design, dust/water resistance, and case compatibility Camera features on Duo: under-display camera, selfie tricks, and photography upgrades iOS 27 on Duo: Side dock, split view, app pairs, and standby mode Battery stats, charging, eSIM, and cases on the Duo Apple Watch Series 12/Ultra 4: new health sensors, improved heart tracking, and battery Live Rewind and Siri Recap: AI-driven audio/smartwatch features and privacy Apple Health app redesign: insights, movement evaluations, and proactive alerts AirPods 5: ANC for all models, color, pricing, and battery App Caps: Athlytic and Splitwise Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Rosemary Orchard Contact iOS Today at [email protected]. Download or subscribe to iOS Today at https://twit.tv/shows/ios-today Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord. Sponsors: trustedtech.team/twit horizon3.ai/iostoday

The 2026 CEDIA Expo was held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, and there was a LOT to see—so much, in fact, that Home Theater Geeks will devote three episodes to covering it! Mike Heiss and Joe Klusnick were there and now join Scott Wilkinson to discuss what they saw and heard. In Part 1, they focus on video products shown at the event. Host: Scott Wilkinson Guests: Michael Heiss and Joe Klusnick Download or subscribe to Home Theater Geeks at https://twit.tv/shows/home-theater-geeks Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord. Sponsor: trustedtech.team/twit

Discover how to run serious AI at home without breaking the bank, as Lon Seidman reveals his tricks for turning old data center GPUs into powerful local LLM machines. Anthropic Researchers Raise Alarm Over A.I. Acceleration, Warning of Threat to Humanity Dario Amodei — We Must Pace the Frontier Mark Zuckerberg Takes Aim at Anthropic in Debate Over A.I. Slowdown A Code of Conduct for Humanist AI Countering misuse of AI: September 2026 / Anthropic EXCLUSIVE: OpenAI's rogue agents probed Hugging Face for weaknesses two months before major hack Yoshua Bengio | Why are AI agents lying, cheating and coordinating? The Worst Spam Emails: Inside iLands' AI Agent Hustle Introducing System One Models & Jev - TypeSafe AI Blog Universal Music is launching an AI music platform with ElevenLabs Lawyer fined $5K over AI-hallucinated witnesses in a murder case A Digital Fly Brain Has Taken Over the Internet (4) nimensky e/acc on X: "ok who tf did this?! lul https://t.co/HpnXo0qKJ4" / X Fanttik Cafein 11 Portable Espresso Machine Casey Newton and Kevin Roose partner with NPR to launch 'Machine Gods' They Built a Shrine to Cable TV. Then Everyone Cut the Cord. Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ Guest: Lon Seidman Download or subscribe to Intelligent Machines at https://twit.tv/shows/intelligent-machines. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: trustedtech.team/intelligent365 claude.ai/technology framer.com/machines bitwarden.com/twit

Microsoft's record-breaking Patch Tuesday unleashed nearly a thousand fixes, but the bonus story is in the chaos that followed as out-of-band updates and AI-driven bug hunts left admins scrambling to keep up. Windows Patch Tuesday was so buggy Microsoft had to release an emergency fix to address all the issues New Release Preview builds for 24H2/25H2 - I guess we're moving past the features that are also in the initial 26H2 release - New Copilot key remapping feature, they will get it right eventually Five builds across Experimental and Beta channels - All over the map as you'd expect Google releases the Gemini app for Windows Adobe released Photoshop and Premiere Elements 2027 AnyType is a top-tier Notion alternative and it's about to get very interesting Microsoft previews an October Windows + Surface event that's clearly all about Nvidia - but is this also tied to 26H2 release? HP announces a new Ryzen-based portable workstation with an interesting detail about unified memory Apple announced iPhone 18 Pros, iPhone Duo, Watch 12 + Ultra 4, AirPods 5, and then released its '27 OS updates - And sure whatever AI AI fear-mongering reaches new heights (or new lows): Is this just PR from Big AI to keep the money rolling? Bill Gates says Gates Foundation will donate $1+ billion to solve AI inequality Big AI could solve the PR problems by actually doing something positive for mankind. Just a thought Copilot Work and Copilot Studio get app building capabilities Google will bring MCP to Google Home, in early preview now Mozilla and Mistral partner on Firefox Smart Window AI XBOX and gaming Gears of War: E-Day and more is coming to Game Pass in the second half of September XBOX is going to the Tokyo Game Show and a nice surprise for Kojima fans Valve opens up Steam Frame preorders and it's only $1060! Amazon Prime Gaming and Luna are having a pretty g26ood September Apple is reportedly making an iPhone game controller for some reason Tips and picks Tip of the week: There's a new MSA bypass for Windows 11 Setup App pick of the week: Google Dreambeans RunAs Radio this week: Patching in 2026 with Susan Bradley Brown liquor pick of the week: Art of the Spirits Honored to Serve Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell Download or subscribe to Windows Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsor: trustedtech.team/twit

Are we charging toward a Krell-style catastrophe with AI, arming ourselves with incomprehensible power while missing the real risks lurking beneath the code? The full report on last week's nearly 1,000 Microsoft security fixes. Five months after its start, what's the status of Project Glasswing? Anthropic's rogue agent escape count reaches four incidents. Not to be outdone, OpenAI's count passes 10 and maybe as many as 23! Revisiting California's DROP compulsory data broker data deletion. Russian criminals get their hands on more than 153 million drivers license scans. "Skynet" is the wrong model for the end of the world. The right model is The Krell Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1096-Notes.pdf Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page. For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: trustedtech.team/twit joindeleteme.com/twit-biz bitwarden.com/twit material.security canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT threatlocker.com/twit